Persian podcast has reach

When Afshin Sepehri recorded his first Persian podcast along with two friends, the three hoped to reach 500 listeners.

But three years and tens of thousands of downloads later, the weekly podcast, called Radio College Park, has listeners from all over the world. Many are American, but at least a few hundred hail from Iran and other countries in the Middle East.

"People are downloading from all different places around the world," said Sepehri, a 2007 alumnus. Radio College Park, which Sepehri claims is the oldest active Persian podcast in the world, attracts a large portion of listeners from Los Angeles, Canada and Middle Eastern countries.

A decade ago, it would have been nearly impossible for a program like Radio College Park to get globally popular so fast. Sepehri had no official funding or experience in broadcasting when he began. But with dirt-cheap operating costs and a dedicated staff of 55 volunteers, the podcast has managed to give thousands a window into the lives of Persians in the U.S.

Sepehri, who completed his doctorate in electrical and computer engineering last May, began the podcast in June 2005. In the first month, 100 listeners tuned in. Now it attracts an average audience of 2,000 listeners each week, Sepehri said.

Hosts, recruited from a pool of loyal listeners, range from technology novices to computer wizards and radio professionals. Hosting an episode requires little more than a $10 microphone and a laptop, which has allowed just about anyone to produce a radio segment.

"We ask members of the audience to make programs and send them to us, and we broadcast them," Sepehri said. "Everybody is recording their own program at home."

One of the show's main goals is to show Iranians what life is like for Persian students living in the United States.

"We are presenting for our fellow Iranians something interesting, and we want people to know about it," said Sima Asgari, one of the show's hosts, who is a former research associate of computer science at the university.

The show creates a window into life at this university.

"We just wanted to show people [in Iran] that we have a large group of Iranian graduate students who do study on very good programs," Sepehri said. "Obviously you would like more people to know about the school because Maryland is a very good university. To some people, Maryland was not as known as other universities."

The podcast is also a way to educate Iranians who may have a less than stellar view of the United States, Sepehri said.

"In this country we have a very negative view of Iran," said Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, the founding director of the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Center for Persian Studies. "In Iran, they also project a negative image of the U.S. They are trying to counter that by showing our diversity, our activities and whatnot."

Radio College Park limits the subject matter to art, history, literature, science and technology, avoiding controversial topics like politics and religion that could cause the Iranian government to block its citizens' access to the site, Sepehri said.

"Politics is not a really good topic because everyone can have different views," said Karimi-Hakkak, who has read poetry in Farsi on more than 25 episodes. "If you want to connect with people, you have to talk on the level of culture."

The subject matter isn't the only thing that makes it easy to connect with Iranians.

"Iran uses [the Internet] so much, and there are so many blogs," Karimi-Hakkak said. "I get about 300 e-mails every day, and about 50 to 100 of them are from students in Iran."

Because of the low upkeep costs, Sepehri does not run ads on the show or its website. Sepehri covers the cost of the show's Internet bandwidth out of pocket - about $100 per year, he said.

The podcast has developed more popularity among Persians than its founders ever expected. But Sepehri has even higher hopes for the years ahead.

"Obviously when you get to something, you want more," Sepehri said. "We expect this to grow over time."

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